


Astray

by crystalfox



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-02-19 01:45:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13113306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalfox/pseuds/crystalfox
Summary: Force Awakens/Last Jedi AU. Stormtrooper Rey wants out of the First Order, she finds help in Rose, a mechanic for the Resistance. As they find themselves on the run, they meet former Jedi-in-training Finn.(Or, How I wish the sequel trilogy had been done.)





	1. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn’s world is turned upside down.

Finn couldn’t sleep. He had been having restless nights for a while, it was extremely frustrating but, little did he know, it was about to save his life. 

Tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, he finally stopped, sighed and threw the covers off, swinging his legs off his bed. The floor of his room in the Jedi Temple was cold and he quickly jumped up, walking towards his wardrobe. He threw on some comfortable clothes, glancing at the clock glowing softly on the wall - 2:46. _Damn, why can’t I just sleep?_  Letting the frustration wash over him, he took a deep breath and tried to focus on calming down. Perhaps he should talk to Master Skywalker about this, he didn’t think insomnia was very Jedi-like. But he felt embarrassed, he was halfway through his training - his class would be the first new group of Jedis - and he felt like he should not have a problem like this. Finn decided to see how he felt in the morning.

A walk in temple gardens had become an almost nightly ritual, the cool night air and peaceful isolation tiring him just enough to grab a few hours of precious sleep. He grabbed his robes, throwing them over his shoulders. Finn used the force to open the door and was almost outside when he stopped and looked back. On the nightstand was his lightsaber. He didn’t usually take it on his walks, feeling safe in the gardens. But tonight, he paused. He felt like he was being drawn towards it. Something deep inside him urged him to take it. As he picked it up and attached it to his belt, he felt uneasy. He wondered if Master Skywalker felt this uneasiness too, perhaps that was the reason for his recent odd behaviour - he had been closed off, morose, and preoccupied. Where he had once been open and approachable, students now found him lost in thought, distracted by an unknown problem.

Finn walked through the maze of corridors and out of the temple into the beautifully maintained gardens. They stretched for a mile, branching out in a triangular shape from the back of the stately Jedi buildings. Gravel paths wound through various exotic fruit trees from across the galaxy, sweet smelling flower beds, and circles of soft, short grass. He passed an ata tree, noticing the round, green fruit was ripe and plucked one from a low-hanging branch. Pressing firmly, it opened easily and he scooped out the flesh with his fingers, into his mouth, savouring the sugary, custard flavour of the soft flesh. Spitting the hard, black seeds out of his mouth and into his hand, he was just about to chuck them into a nearby bush when he heard an alarming noise. 

It was a loud, dull boom. Finn found himself unable to move, unable to make sense of the unusual noise interrupting the quiet peace of his nighttime walk. There was another boom, and another. He turned around and looked towards the Jedi temple, which was now far in the distance as he realised he had walked to almost the end of the gardens, and saw a bright, orange glow engulfing it. For a few seconds he couldn’t make sense of what he was seeing, then he understood - fire. The Jedi temple  was on fire, smoke rising quickly from all over it. He dropped his fruit on the ground and started to run, as fast as he could. The fire seemed to be spreading swiftly, quicker than Finn could run.

By the time he made it back to the buildings, his chest burning from the effort of sprinting, he had let fear overtake him completely. The air was acrid and thick, Finn had to pull his robe over his mouth and nose. His immediate reaction was to go inside the building, to help anyone who was trapped but fierce flames were obstructing every entrance at the back. Running around the building, he made it to front and it was horrifying. It looked as thought a huge explosion had torn through the main entrance of the temple, large chunks of debris were thrown everywhere. But a more terrible sight greeted him - bodies.

Finn froze as he saw his friends and fellow students lying dead and dying as the fires raged. He had to stop himself from being sick, it was the worst thing he had ever seen. Tears filled his eyes as he searched frantically for anyone who was still alive. Finally, he found his closest friend - Stax - lying twisted on the ground, a large gash across his chest and burns across his face. 

“What happened?” Finn exclaimed, grabbing Stax’s shaking hand in his own. 

“Run.” Stax blurted, squeezing Finn’s hand. “You have....to...run. It’s...not safe here.” He coughed violently. 

“What?!” 

“They attacked us, they want us dead. You have to save yourself, you’re the last one.” 

“Who?”

”Ben and -“ Stax coughed heavily again, his eyes glazing over. He struggled to speak, “Others, doesn’t matter, Ben is dangerous. Leave, now. Go, hide. Or they will find you.” 

Before Finn can reply, Stax is gone. 

The sound of fires crackling is all Finn could hear as he struggled not to cry, his hand shook as he closed Stax’s eyes. Heart racing, he looked around at the chaos of his once peaceful home. He knew he must do what Stax urged him to do, leaving is the only option. Hauling himself upwards, he stumbled on unsteady feet towards the landing site where a small collection of ships are kept. Relief flooded through him as he saw the ships were left unscathed, he guessed the perpetrators left the ships because they assumed everyone had been killed. He hurried towards the nearest one.

_Beep beep._

R2 rolled out from behind a ship, coming to a stop at Finn’s feet.

“Is Master Skywalker with you?” 

_Beep beep beep._

Finn’s heart sank as he deciphered the droid’s noises - Master Skywalker had gone, minutes earlier, flying off in a ship without R2. He can’t make sense of this, it is a nightmare he knows he won’t wake from. _Focus, breathe._ The important thing now is to leave, get away from the horror and regroup. 

“We need to go. Stax said it’s not safe here. We need to hide and maybe we can somehow find Master Sky-“

_Beep. Beeep beep._

The droid interrupted him, wiggling urgently from side to side. R2 wanted to stay, he wouldn't leave, he wanted to wait for his master in case he returned. He was insistent.

Finn didn't want to leave the little droid but he didn't feel like he had the time to try and convince him. All his instincts were screaming at him to run and hide. 

He patted the top of R2’s shiny dome, “Ok, stay hidden, hide if anyone comes back. Unless it’s Master Skywalker. Tell him....” he screwed his eyes shut and opened them, blinking quickly - “Tell him I had to leave, Stax told me to leave. That I’ll try to find him if possible.”

 _Beep._  R2 disappeared as Finn climbed into ship. He forced his mind to go blank as he flew upwards, programming the ship to lightspeed with the farthest coordinates he knew. 

Finn had to stop himself from looking downwards at the burning ruins. He did not want that as a memory.


	2. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey is given a chance.

**_ 4 years later _ **

The First Order had assembled at an alarming rate after the burning of the Jedi temple. Amasssing an army, ships, and weapons at a speed which suggested they had been quietly gathering unbeknownst to the general population of the galaxy for some time prior. They had spread across the galaxy like a dangerous infection, finding many willing supporters. But they did not rely on sympathisers alone, kidnapping large groups of people from various Outer Rim to become stormtroopers. A rather nasty piece of technology - a bracelet which allowed a person to be controlled or killed instantly if they disobeyed - kept their growing army of unwilling stormtroopers in line. This was how Rey found herself as a reluctant soldier. She had grown up as a scavenger on a poor, desert planet in the middle of nowhere. It was a rough, hard life of monotony. So, when the First Order landed one day, her first reaction was one of curiosity not fear. She did not know about the evil they stood for or the horrors they were committing, such news had not reached her corner of the galaxy yet. If she had know, she would have run away immediately. But she didn’t, instead she kept queuing to get her bread, interested to see why the new, expensive ships had landed on Jakku. Before she knew it, Rey, along with many others, was stunned by powerful blasters and dragged aboard the ships.

The bracelet, more commonly known as The Supressor, was a heavy metal band which tightly encircled the wearer’s wrist. It monitored their actions, making sure they were following orders. The captains of each stormtrooper division could punish disobedience through the wristband either by stunning the wearer or sending a powerful electric shock through them. The Supressors were not mandatory, those who volunteered to be a stormtrooper did not have to wear one. Slowly, many of the involuntary members had fallen victim to the brainwashing of the First Order, and had been rewarded for their blind loyalty with the removal of their bracelet. Rey was one of the remaining few who still had to wear one, routinely defying orders and facing punishment. She was determined not to be a willing participant of the regime and longed for an opportunity to escape. The First Order disgusted her and she despised being stormtrooper. 

Due to her troublesome nature, she was often given the worst jobs in an attempt by her captain to get her in line. They hoped to break her spirit but Rey was tough and determined. There was something deep inside of her that pulled her away from the darkness, that encouraged her to hope for a better future. Rey didn’t know what it was but she knew it made her different. She knew that this thing, whatever it was, would save her. She felt an inner power which she couldn’t explain, it haunted her dreams nightly - giving her visions of saving herself and helping others. 

Rey was in the middle of one of these dreams when the clamorous shriek of the morning alarm forced her awake. Eyes popping open, she clutched at the sheets before relaxing her hands and hauling herself out of bed. Along with the other members of her division in her dorm, she dressed swiftly and made up her bunk. _What will it be today?_ She wondered to herself as they trooped in a neat line to the common area, everyone queued silently to receive their breakfast. Food was the small highlight of her current life, the First Order wanted them healthy so they were fed three hearty meals a day. It was a far cry from the basic rations she earned on Jakku and she had noticed that she had grown physically stronger because of it. A large steaming bowl of porridge, piled high with fresh chunks of fruit, was placed in the centre of her tray. Next to it was two slices of buttered toast and two boiled eggs, sitting neatly in separate pots. There was a glass of light blue milk and a generous cup of strong, hot caff. Rey sat down at a nearby table and began to hungrily devour her breakfast. It had been over a year since she had been captured but she had never stopped enjoying the abundance of food. Rey ignored the quiet chatter around her, savouring what she was eating. Disappointed to finish, she put her tray in the garbage and walked with the others to meet their captain for the days orders.

Standing in formation, the stormtroopers listened carefully to their captain. “SW-789 and SW-312 you are to scope out the town of Ophus for new recruits.” SW-312, otherwise known as Rey, rolled her eyes behind the covering of helmet at the orders. ‘Scope out new recruits’ simply meant that they were to check and see if there were people who they could kidnap for stormtroopers or resources they could steal. It was a boring but fairly easy job - involving little other than wandering around a town on an Outer Rim planet and reporting an estimate of the amount of young, healthy people they saw. Reporting a large amount would mean that a ‘Recruitment Division’ would be sent out to round up as many as possible, usually destroying the town in the process, while smaller amounts were generally left alone. When paired with a less confident person, she found she was often able to save people by estimating a low number. But it seemed her captain had taken note of this, pairing her with SW-789, a strong-willed voluntary recruit to the stormtrooper division who called himself ‘Brute’. Rey sighed quietly, guessing her trick of forcefully saying a low estimate would not work on Brute, he delighted in causing pain so it was probable he would report a high level of potential stormtroopers regardless of the actual number.

“You have your orders. You may all go.” The captain spoke harshly as she left. 

A shove to her shoulder announced Brute’s presence at her side. 

“Let’s go. I reckon we’re gonna recruit a lot today.” 

Rey couldn’t see his face behind his helmet but she guessed he was smiling. She followed him to their ship and they headed towards their destination. It was a short flight from the cruiser to the town, as they landed Rey observed that it was a large, busy place nestled at the foot of some craggy mountains. The sandstone buildings and warren of streets were haphazardly arranged close together in a rough oval shape. Ships were continuously landing and taking off, it was most likely a busy trading spot. Brute jumped out of the ship, apparently raring to go, Rey followed behind him. They walked in unison, holding their blasters at chest height, through the crowds of people. By now the First Order was well known throughout the galaxy and people moved fearfully out of their way. Looking carefully at the crowds, they began their task by making a mental note of the number and type of people they saw, intending to compare their estimates later. 

Rey counted to ten and back down again, not caring to remember real results. 

“SW-789, SW-312, we have intercepted communication from a Resistance ship attempting to leave from Ophus. I am sending the ship information now, head back to your vessel, stop the ship from leaving and capture anyone aboard. We believe it is a mechanic. Bring them back to the cruiser for interrogation.” 

Rey was stunned and a bold of adrenaline shot through her. _The Resistance, here?! Now?!_ They had appeared soon after the First Order started to gain momentum - a brave group, selflessly fighting back. She had never been anywhere near the Resistance, let alone seen an actual fighter. Relying instead on the rumours and gossip that passed through the stormtroopers, she relished any tiny bit of information which spoke of their rebellion and their fight against the tyranny of the First Order.

One day, she had told herself, one day I will join them. It seemed like today might be her chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, suggestions, feedback, prompts, constructive criticism welcome!


	3. Tenacity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose joins the fight.

The New Republic had formed after the defeat of the Empire with the goal to spread peace and democracy throughout the galaxy. It was a massive task that so many years later was still proving difficult. The galaxy was a vast place with a huge population spread across innumerable planets, so there was a seemingly never-ending flow of problems and emergencies. Negotiations often moved slowly, decisions were sometimes not reached. 

Despite the hard work of the dedicated representatives of the New Republic and their army, it was simply impossible to help everyone or to monitor every illegal activity. Planets on the Outer Rim fared the worst because of this, becoming safe havens for loyalists of the former Empire and dangerous criminals. The New Republic rarely made their presence known on the Outer Rim planets, too distracted by the numerous issues they faced in the Mid and Inner Rims.

Few representatives of the New Republic took time to consider what exactly was happening on these Outer planets, the idea that something similar to the Empire could form again seemed unlikely given the crushing defeat of Palpatine and Vader. But they were overworked, too busy to think to the future, and most importantly - they were naive, and there was a large group forming that was taking advantage of this naivety. They created an underground network across dozens of planets on the Outer Rim, collecting weapons, ships, and information about valuable resources. It took years of work but eventually, the beginnings of the First Order were ready to strike. 

It was a carefully executed plan involving multiple simultaneous attacks on the wealthiest criminals and poorest planets. They seized large amounts of money and even more weapons and ships from various outlaws, as well forcefully abducting their first group of people to transform into stormtroopers. Anyone who stood in their way was killed. The ferocity, speed, and concurrent formation of these assaults stunned the New Republic. Their army was sent to quell this insurrection but the First Order had better knowledge of the planets and were able to hide their small, quick ships before launching successful guerilla attacks. The size and speed of the smaller vessels took the army by surprise and the Republic cruisers found themselves under sustained attacks, their large size a hinderence to capturing and destroying such tiny ships. The army sustained huge losses and chaos started to spread into the Mid Rim, while the New Republic representatives were unable to unite, fighting amongst themselves. It soon became clear that the New Republic, lacking clear leadership, may fall without their army and the Resistance was formed. 

As the First Order ravaged the planets on the Outer Rim, the Resistance fought back when they could and recruited as many willing fighters as possible. Many who saw what the First Order was capable of, and who managed to evade capture or death, joined up to the Resistance. Rose Tico and her sister, Paige, were two such people. Their home planet, Hays Minor, had been one of the earliest to be pillaged. With a popular trading post for criminals and crystalline mines, there was a wealth of money, weapons, and precious resources to be taken. Both Paige and Rose had hated growing up on Hays Minor, the general population lived in poverty as the greedy elite and the powerful criminals enjoyed the high life. They longed to escape, Paige dreamed of being a pilot and Rose had a natural talent for mechanics. The sisters were about to escape in a way they had never imagined possible. 

——

It was a dreary morning, as usual Rose and Paige were working in the fueling station their parent’s owned. There had been unconfirmed rumours about violent fighting on nearby planets, but no customers coming through the station offered any substantial reports. Rose had listened closely to the chatter, there was a general unease, almost fear, to what was being shared. Usually the talk in the station consisted of low-level criminal activity, discussions about ships, and general dissatisfaction with society. But this was different - something was definitely going on. In a way, Rose found herself unsurprised when, on that dreary morning, things changed forever. It was like she had been waiting for it to happen. 

The richest part of her city had been hit first by powerful blasts from low flying ships, killing many of the powerful elite. The blasts didn’t last very long and the silence seemed unnatural after the booming noises. Rose and her family said nothing for a few seconds, before her father suddenly darted towards the front of their store and closed the doors hurriedly. They were now locked in. 

“Stay here, don’t move, I’m going up on the roof to see what’s happening.” Her father grabbed his binoculars and headed towards the back stairs. 

Paige and Rose simply stared at each other, as their mother shut off the lights and removed the money from the cash draw, they’d never seen their parents like this - scared.

“What’s going on?” Rose felt the need to whisper in the dim, quiet room. 

Their mother ran her fingers through her hair and turned away from her daughters. “I don’t know but it’s bad. Whatever it is. Your father has always had a good sense for recognising danger. All this talk recently from the other planets -“

Their father reappeared and interrupted, “We’re going to my sister’s, right now. Go upstairs and grab some essentials, and I _mean_  essentials. We’ll leave as soon as possible.” He took a deep breath and, before they could even ask, he spoke in a shaky voice, “They’re killing everyone they see. They’ve bombed most of the big houses. And they’ve hit the mines.”

”They must be _crazy_ , the mines are protected by so many weapons and -“ Paige spoke nervously. 

“Crazy and dangerous but they’re already through the main defences as far as I can see. The gates are open and they’ve got ships down there. Probably taking crystalline as we speak. Anyway, we can’t hang around - you’ve got five minutes, I’ll start the ship up.” 

Paige, Rose, and their mother hurried upstairs to their respective rooms. Rose looked around her small bedroom, with it’s light blue walls and glow-in-the-dark constellations on the ceiling, her comfy bed, her desk littered with half-fixed mechanical items, and her collection of miniature animal statues. _Would this be the last time she would be here?_  The thought terrified her and she reminded herself that they had to leave soon. She’d never seen her parents act so frightened, it was awful. She couldn’t imagine the type of group who would even attempt to get through the mine’s defences - everyone knew it was defended by powerful weaponry. She knew it was the right decision to go, at least for the time being, whoever these people were, she didn’t want to get in their way. 

She grabbed a change of clothes and her favourite set of tools and shoved them haphazardly into a battered, grey rucksack, as she ran downstairs. Paige was a few seconds behind her, and they followed their parents out to their old but sturdy land ship. They all settled into their seats in silence, as their father powered up the ship. He sped out onto the dusty road behind their filling station and turned onto a smaller, even dustier road.

“The main road is the other way, we need to -“

”We’re going through the forest,” their father interrupted their mother, “we need to stay as hidden as possible. They may be watching the roads.” Blasts echoed in the distance behind them as they sped into the shady forest with its tall, twisty trees. 

The family lapsed into silence again, taking time to absorb the events that had forced them from their home. After an hour or so of winding through the maze of trees, they emerged into a rocky desert. Flying low over a pile of large boulders, a small town with sandy coloured buildings appeared. As they docked the ship near a house on the outskirts, a woman came running out to greet them. 

“You’re ok! The reports on the holoradio were awful!” Rose’s aunt exclaimed, as she flung her arms round each of them in turn. She bundled them inside and locked the door. They felt safe for the first time in hours. 

For four long days, they stayed close to each other, listening to what reports they could gather on the various holoradio channels which were reporting horrific casualties and destruction. Just when it seemed like it was never going to end, reports started to come through of a group, calling themselves the Resistance, had arrived and where helping where they could. Rose’s father tried to contact a few trusted friends to verify what they were hearing, and found that it was true, the horror had stopped and it was safe to go home. Not that it sounded like there was much to go back to. 

“We’ll message you as soon as we’re home.” Their father promised his sister, as she bid them farewell. They flew home through the forest, all nervous and frightened at what they might find. As their home came into view, they all gasped.

Smoke still billowed from all over the city, blood stained the streets, buildings were damaged, and their home was almost collapsing. They docked their ship and slowly exited onto the street, an acrid smell of burning caused them to cover their mouths and noses with their hands. They looked around at the devastation on their once busy street.

Three men wearing orange pilot suits were gently covering dead bodies in white sheets and lifting them into a hover carrier. They nodded grimly to Rose and her family, two of them carrying on with their difficult task as one approached them. 

“Poe Dameron, I’m with the Resistance. This your filling station?” He raised his hand in greeting and gestured towards their home. Rose noted that he looked exhausted and dirty, as though he hadn’t slept or showered in days. She couldn’t imagine what he must have seen.

”Yes, we left soon after they attacked the mine. We’ve been staying with my sister in a nearby town. What exactly happened?” Her father asked, looking around in disbelief. 

“Smart. You made the right decision.” He looked sadly towards the carrier holding the dead bodies before turning back to face them. “They call themselves the First Order. Remember the Empire? They’re attempting to build something similar and they’ve been attacking planets out here on the Outer Rim, taking slaves, stealing ships and resources. It’s chaos but we, the Resistance, are trying to fight it as best we can but it’s hard and we desperately need more fighters.” 

Paige stepped forward, “You need pilots? Because I’m a great one, I can fly anything.” She spoke confidently and calmly, as though she had been waiting her whole life for a moment like this.

“Paige, _no -_ it’s far too dangerous.” Her mother gasped in shock and tried to pull her daughter backwards. 

Before Rose could properly think about her decision, she was stepping forward too, “I’m great with mechanics, especially anything to do with ships.” Her heart was hammering in her chest as she spoke but it felt so _right,_ like there had never been a better decision. Listening to the descriptions on the holoradio over the past few days had made the sisters angrier and angrier. They were charged with a need to help, to do something to fight back. And here was their opportunity. 

“R-really?!” Poe stuttered as he raised his eyebrows. It hadn’t been easy trying to recruit people to the Resistance so he was surprised at the ease with which the two sisters offered their help. “Of course we can use pilots and mechanics, but its dangerous work. Are you sure?” 

Paige and Rose looked at their parents, Rose stepped towards them and said softly, “You know we can help, right?”

Their mother looked at them with tears in their eyes, as their father replied, “Of course you can.” He turned towards Poe, “You’re lucky to have their help.” 

“I’m sure we are.” Poe smiled. “Right, well, you should all come to our temporary base over the other side of the city.”

——

And so they joined, their parents worried but proud of their two talented daughters. A few days later, it was time to leave Hays Minor and to leave their parents behind to try and rebuild their business and help the less fortunate in their community. The sisters were nervous but they soon found themselves fitting comfortably into their new roles. It was a hard working team of people who were dedicated to helping fight the First Order. For the first time in her life, Rose felt like she was doing something worthwhile. Time passed and soon the sisters were celebrating two years as part of the Resistance. It was nothing special but they took precious minutes out of their day to sit together and open a package from their parents. Inside was a message telling them how much they loved them and how proud they were. There were also beautiful, matching necklaces which Paige and Rose immediately put on. The necklaces soon became a source of comfort, a reminder of love and family, something they often needed in trying times. 

It was on another dreary morning that Rose was assigned a seemingly straight-forward task to pick up some much needed supplies. The Resistance was based on a moon in the Outer Rim, a safe distance from the First Order. Rose travelled in a small jump ship to a city on a nearby planet. Her morning went with ease, and Rose was able to find all the supplies she needed for reasonable prices. It was just as she had radioed back to base and was about to leave when a blast shook her tiny craft. 

A voice crackled over her radio, “Leave the craft unarmed with your hands up. You are under arrest by the First Order.”

 _Oh crap._ Rose took a deep shaky breath and tried to steady her nerves.

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Convergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose meets Rey.

A dull, hollow banging on the metallic door of her ship meant that Rose didn’t have much time. The First Order were about to break it down. _This is it._ Rose felt sick, her stomach churned, and she was sweating. She looked hurriedly around the ship as the banging continued, she clutched her blaster and closed her eyes tightly. _Ok, Rose,_  she thought to herself, _this is probably the end. Whatever happens, don’t tell them where the Resistance base is. You can do this. You can be brave._ She felt the weight of her necklace on her chest, a reminder of her family and their love. She knew in that moment that she wasn’t completely alone.

The door shuddered and fell forwards, clanging to the floor. Rose opened her eyes nervously, her hands shaking as she held her blaster. Two stormtroopers entered, stomping heavily, their weapons pointed straight at her. 

“Drop your weapon. _Now.”_ One stormtrooper shouted at her, moving closer. 

Rose had thought about shooting but there were two of them, she knew it wouldn’t be smart to try going up against them. She slowly placed her blaster on the floor in front of her, holding her hands above her head. But as she did so, something surprising happened - the stormtrooper at the back raised their blaster and shot the one who had shouted at her. 

Rose gasped.

——

As the door of the ship had fallen, Rey had steadied herself, willing herself to stay calm. This could be her only chance to escape. She would probably only have one opportunity to get rid of her idiot of a partner, Brute. And after that? Well, she just hoped that this Resistance member would believe that she wanted out of the First Order. It was a risky move but Rey didn’t have anything left to lose. 

Inside was a young woman, a similar age to Rey, crouched on the floor, looking terrified. Brute stepped forward aggressively and shouted his order to the woman, Rey knew this was her moment. All the pain, the horror, the nightmare of her ordeal under the First Order that had built up inside her was finally able to be released. She raised her blaster towards Brute’s back, a snarl escaping from her mouth, and shot him. He fell heavily to the floor and she stepped forward, firing once again at his head, just to be absolutely sure.

Rey heard the young woman gasp and she looked up sharply. With one hand she reached up and undid her helmet, pulling it off and chucking it away from her. 

“It’s ok! Don’t be scared!” Despite having dreamt of nothing but leaving the First Order she hadn’t exactly thought about what she planned to say when she actually encountered a Resistance member. She realised that ‘don’t be scared’ wasn’t exactly the best opening line.

“W-what? What’s going on?” The woman had scrambled upwards and was pressed against the wall of the ship, pointing her blaster at Rey. 

“Hey, no. No need for that.” Rey spoke quickly and as calmly as she could while pointing at the blaster. “My name is Rey. I want out of the First Order, I want to join the Resistance. Please. Look,” she placed her blaster on the floor and pulled off the arm guard on her left arm. “I’ve still got a Supressor on. I don’t want to be a stormtrooper, I want to fight them.” 

——

This was not at all what Rose had expected to happen. There was a stormtrooper dead in front of her and another one asking to join the Resistance. _Was this a trap?_ It certainly could be, they could be trying to trick her into taking a stormtrooper to the base in order to track them. But, as far as she had been told, the First Order didn’t know they were here. If the Resistance had suspected they might have been tracked, they would have sent the mechanics out in groups to be safer. It could just be a coincidence that they happened to find her. She was unsure what the right thing to do was and she knew she didn’t have much time to make a decision.

Rose had always been taught by her parents to trust her instincts, that her judgement would serve her well in any situation. As she looked into the pleading eyes of the stormtrooper, this woman who was a similar age to her, and listened to the desperation in her voice, she decided that the woman was telling the truth.

”Ok. Ok! I can help you Rey. I’m Rose.” 

“ _Thank you. Thank you._ ” Rey exhaled and pulled off the rest of her armour. “We won’t have much time once they realise something’s gone wrong. You’re a mechanic right?” She was now in her plain black fatigues, and she tugged at her Supressor bracelet. “Can you disarm this? I’d try myself but it can’t be done with one hand.”

Rose moved closer and took Rey’s wrist in her hands. She looked at the bracelet carefully, she’d never seen one before but she’d heard the rumours about them. It was a sophisticated piece of machinery and ideally Rose would need time to study it. But she knew they didn’t have time. 

“Honestly? I don’t know. But I can try. I need my toolkit.” Rose gently pulled Rey over to the seats by the console and reached  into a small drawer, pulling out a canvas bag which she placed on her lap. “Ok, here we go. How much time would you say we have.”

”Not long. Minutes maybe.”

”I was hoping you’d say longer but with my luck today, I’m not surprised.” Rose tried several different tools on the tiny lock on the Supressor.

Seeing Rose was frustrated after trying four different tools, Rey said softly, “You can do this. This should be no problem for a big shot Resistance mechanic.” 

A small smile graced Rose’s face as she tried a fifth tool, “I’m no big shot.” Still nothing. She picked up a sixth tool and tried. _Click._  “Yes!” The both exclaimed in unison. A tiny square panel had opened on the bracelet revealing a mess of wires. Rose picked up a pair of tweezers and started to poke around in the panel. 

“This monitors and shocks right?”

”Yup.” Rey peered at the wires. “What do you think? Red and green or red and blue?”

”Definitely cut red, and leave white intact. I can’t quite work out whether it’s blue or green that controls shocking system, if I cut the wrong one I could hurt you badly. What’s the worst thing this can do?”

”It’s knocked me unconscious a few times, I’ve heard that it can kill but I’ve never seen it done.” 

Rose wrinkled her nose, “Not what I wanted to hear.” 

“Look at it closely. What’s your gut instinct? Blue or green?”

Rose took a few seconds to look again. “Green.” She finally replied. “And what colour do you think? You seem to know your stuff.”

Rey also took a few seconds to look. “Yeah, I agree, green. Listen, we should really get out of here so I think you should just do it.”

Rose looked up at her. “Brace yourself.” 

Rey closed her eyes and hoped that her and Rose’s instincts were right. _Click_. The Supressor, which had made her a slave for so long fell to the floor with a dull thud. 

The women jumped up and hugged tightly. 

Their excitement was halted by the crackle of the two stormtrooper radios. “SW-789 and SW-312, come in immediately. Have you secured the Resistance ship?”

“We need to go now. When no-one replies, they’ll send a team down.”

”They’ll be watching for this ship, right? We have to find a new one.”

”Yeah, but we should hide in the town for a bit. That should throw them off a bit, they’ll check the ships first. Once they head into town we can circle back and find a ship. Ok with you?”

Rose nodded, putting her toolkit into her backpack, and slinging it over her shoulder, “Sounds like the best plan.”

They women grabbed their blasters, and as they stepped towards the entrance of the ship, Rose reached out and grabbed Rey’s hand, a gesture she had often shared with her sister. Rey couldn’t remember the last time someone had held her hand, she squeezed Rose’s hand lightly and felt glad that it had been Rose she had found. 

Rey and Rose both realised at the same time, they could have just as easily been in each other’s places. Rose could have been captured by the First Order, and Rey could have volunteered for the Resistance. It seemed like fate that they were supposed to meet.

“You ready for this?” Rey asked, still holding Rose’s hand in one of hers and her blaster in the other. 

“No, but if I’ve learned anything today it’s to just go with things and see what they take me.” 

They stepped off the ship and into an uncertain future. 

 


	5. Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mechanic and a stormtrooper run into a cantina....

After the destruction of the Jedi Temple, Finn had fled to the farthest planet he knew of. But he was still in the Mid Rim, which he felt was possibly too close to danger. For nearly a year, he hopped from planet to planet until he reached the Outer Rim. But no matter how far he went, he couldn’t escape the nightmares. He had thought the insomnia he had suffered from at the Jedi Temple was bad, now he wished for it. The horrific sight of his friends and fellow students dead and dying, the acrid smell of the furiously burning fires, the feel of his heart desperately racing - the memories of the attack on the Jedi Temple haunted him. Time and distance seemed to make no difference, no matter how many months or years passed and how far Finn travelled, he was always thinking about that terrible night.

Many times, Finn had thought about trying to find Master Skywalker and, later, trying to contact the Resistance. There was a aching need inside of him to act, to be brave and throw himself into the fight against the First Order. His mind was often filled with thoughts of what it would be like to come out of his self-imposed hiding. But every time he came close, nothing happened. It was as if he was frozen, unable to move. For the first time in Finn’s life, he was controlled by fear, consumed by a panicky feeling that all was not well and that it would never be again. He thought of the fear as a small voice, a intruder in his head that convinced him that hiding was the safest thing to do. Did it make him a coward? Finn had sadly decided that it probably did and he was often plagued with guilty feelings, which then led to the need to be brave. It was a vicious cycle and Finn was trapped in it. 

Despite these feelings, he continued to follow the news of the First Order and the Resistance. It was difficult for him to hear the terrible things the First Order were doing and the havoc they were causing. He often felt frustrated with himself for not doing anything. But hearing about the triumphs, however small, of the Resistance filled him with hope. It was easy for him to focus on the negatives but the Resistance always reminded him that there was good out there. 

Work was the one thing that could distract Finn from his thoughts and he had held a variety of jobs during his planet-hopping - farmer, pilot, data inputter, cleaner, to name a few - anything that gave him credits without any questions was perfect. His latest job was as a bartender in a dingy cantina frequented by a quite unsavoury clientle on a fairly anonymous Outer Rim planet. The owner was rarely around, his colleagues were not interested in getting to know him, and he was paid well enough to rent a small apartment. All in all, it was the most stable time he’d had in a while. He still felt worried, as though he should be on high alert, but he didn’t feel the need to leave just yet. 

 

* * *

 

 

The bar was usually quiet during his shift, no more than a handful of regulars drinking alone in the dimly lit booths, but he’d never seen it so dead. There was _nobody_  in the cantina, the band asked to leave early, bored of playing to an empty room, and Finn let them go. Alone, he wiped the bar down for the second time, the slight bustle of noise from the nearby street filtering though the open door. He checked the time, there was two hours left of his shift, he leaned heavily against the cool stone of the bar and wondered if he’d go the whole shift without selling one drink. He could probably close up and no one would know. 

Just as Finn thought that it was going to be the most boring day of his life, that perhaps he would even fall asleep from boredom, something happened. 

Two young women came barrelling through the open door, breathing heavily, their eyes wild. Finn stared at them, his eyebrows raised in surprise because young people never came in, but he could tell they weren’t looking for a quiet drink. They were probably around his age, mid-twenties, dressed plainly, and obviously on the run. _Trouble_ , Finn thought, _careful._ His guard went up, and he tried to ignore a sharp stab of panic. 

“Is there a back way out of here?” The slightly taller of the two asked forcefully as she placed her weapon in front of Finn, as if he might need some convincing. 

Before Finn could confirm that, yes, there _was_  a back way out, and, no, she didn’t need to use her blaster, he was interrupted.

”Drop your weapons, you are under arrest for the murder of a stormtrooper and being part of the Resistance!” 

Two stormtroopers had entered into the bar, their blasters raised threateningly, one shouted angrily as they advanced towards the young women. They turned slowly, fierce expressions of defiance on their faces, blasters still clutched in their hands.

Finn froze, his heart started to beat faster and his palms became sweaty. _No, no, no!_  His mind immediately flashed back to the Jedi temple. He wanted to run, to get far away from this situation. But he glanced over at the young women and suddenly a wave of determination washed over him and he knew he had to help them. Finn’s fear faded and he realised that this was important, that these two women had run into this cantina for a reason. He was needed. 

Since leaving the Jedi temple that fateful night, Finn had been very careful to not use the Force, paranoid that somehow Ben, or Kylo as he seemed to be calling himself now, would be looking for him. It pained him to do this, it was so unnatural to him to stop himself from using the Force. But he had no idea if Ben was looking for him and he couldn’t risk being found. Could Ben track him through the Force? He didn’t know and he didn’t want to find out. Finn had wondered if he would ever use the Force again, a small part of him thought that he would and he was about to be proved correct.

For the first time in years, Finn allowed the Force to flow through him, he opened his mind and immediately he felt whole again. He felt connected and strong. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, savouring the feeling, before opening them and staring straight at the stormtroopers.

”These aren’t the people you’re looking for.” He spoke clearly and forcefully. “You’re going to leave now.”

There was silence and for a moment, Finn thought that the mind trick hadn’t worked. Maybe he was too out of practice? Just as he was about to try again, the stormtroopers turned to each other and lowered their weapons.

”These aren’t the people we’re looking for.” One said mechanically, before the other replied, in much the same tone, “We’re going to leave now.”

They moved slowly, as though their armour was heavy, and stomped out of the cantina. Finn walked swiftly to the door, peeking out of it to watch the stormtroopers until they turned the corner of the street, satisfied they were truly gone, he turned back towards the women. 

They were staring at him in shock, eyebrows raised and mouths slightly open. 

“Woah?! How did you -“

”That was incredible!”

They spoke simultaneously, the words tumbling out of their mouths. 

Finn had known that he had to get rid of the stormtroopers but everything had happened so quickly that he hadn’t thought about how he would explain what he did. He thought back to what the stormtroopers had accused the women of and wondered if he could trust them. _Were they really part of the Resistance?_  The idea of coming into contact with the Resistance by accident had been something he’d imagined but had never really thought would actually happen. _Maybe this is a sign?_  Finn was unsure and he fell back into his old habit of trying to distance himself. Better to be safe than sorry.

“It was nothing. I just asked them to leave. Which, judging by what they said, you should do as well.”

”That was not nothing.” The taller woman blurted. 

“Yeah,” the shorter woman nodded vigorously, “they _knew_  it was us and you made them go away!” 

“I....it was nothing, really.” He moved behind the bar and started to switch the lights off. “I need to close up, you both need to go.”

The shorter woman stared at him in awe, but the taller woman stared at him with narrowed eyes, as if she knew he was lying. 

“We’re not going anywhere until you tell us who you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with this chapter for some reason so it’s taken me ages to finish it.
> 
> As always, feedback/comments/constructive criticism welcome!

**Author's Note:**

> I only have a rough idea of how this will start, so suggestions/prompts are welcome! As is feedback/comments/constructive criticism.


End file.
